Chair for physically handicapped persons



CHAIR FOR PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PERSONS Nov. 18, 1969 vjA. sHl-:RlDAN3,479,086

CHAIR FUR PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PERSONS med Dec. 4, 1967 :ssheets-sheet 2 Sl S2 S3 S4 O o G 0 /A/V/V VERNCNI` ARTHUR SHERIDANUnited States Patent O Inf. c1. A412 3/20, 1/00 U.S. Cl. 297-330 2Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention consists in a chaircharacterized in having a frame and seat supported from the frame andlifting means for raising and tilting the seat while occupied by Iaperson.

- The invention relates to a chair for physically handicapped persons,and in particular to those persons either by disease, injury or old age,having diiculty in rising to their feet from a sitting position, whilethe object of the invention is to provide a chair which will assist therising .of the occupant to a standing position and vice versa.

The invention relates to a chair wherein the improvement comprises aframe and seat supported from the frame and lifting means for raisingand tilting the seat while occupied by a person.

The invention further pertains to ya chair as set forth in the precedingparagraph in which the lifting and tilting means is driven by anelectric motor. The lifting and tilting means may comprise a worm andnut, and a lever system between the frame yand nut and the seat.

The invention further relates to a chair as set forth above in which thelifting and tilting means is pneumatic means. The pneumatic means mayinclude a bellows and a motion guide means comprising a lever systembetween the frame and seat. The pneumatic lifting means may be operatedby a cylinder of compressed gas supported upon the frame of the chair orthe pneumatic lifting means may be operated by a hand operated pump, orstill further the pneumatic lifting means may be operated by acompressor powered by an electric motor, both built into the chair.

The invention further relates to a chair as set forth above having armsupports associated with the seat, and which are raised and tilted withthe seat.

The invention still further relates to a chair as set forth Iabovehaving switch means upon one arm of the chair for the control of themovement of the seat by the occupant.

The accompanying drawings show, by way of example only, two embodimentsof the invention in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation of a first embodiment, but withoutupholstery,

FIGURE 2 is a View in rear elevation of the chair,

FIGURE 3 is a circuit diagram of the chair of FIG- URES 1 and 2,

FIGURE 4 is la view in side elevation of a further embodiment,

FIGURES 5 and 6 are perspective views illustrating the lowered andraised positions respectively of the chair.

In the embodiments of FIGURES 1 and 2 the chair has a frame of wood ofconventional construction, comprising a bottom horizontal member 1,upright front and back members 2, arms 3 and wing members 4. The chairis also provided with horizontal rails 5 at the front, back and sides.

The seat of the chair is constructed as a four sided box like structurewith an open front and top, a sloping back icel 6 and sloping sides 7supported upon a laminated board 8. The chair illustrated in FIGURES 1and 2 is without its upholstery and covering, so as to more clearly showthe raising and lowering mechanism. From FIGURES 5 and 6 it may be seenthat the seat is provided with a cushion 9 and upholstered arm rests 10,whichl latter are slightly recessed in the under side, so as to iit overthe arms of the frame. The arm rests are of such a depth as to preventthe fingers being curled underneath and trapped between the former andthe arms of the frame.

The seat is supported upon a pair of crossover levers 11 and 12 on eachside of the chair, which are hingedly joined by a nut and bolt 13. Thelower ends of levers 11 are hinged upon a nut land bolt 14 fastened to aU-section metal frame 15 by a bracket 16. The frame 15 is supported upona laminated board or metal frome 17 resting on the horizontal woodbottom members down by the bolts 18.

The upper end of each lever 11 is provided with a roller 19 whichengages within a channel member 20, fastened to the underside of thelaminated board 8 which constitutes the seat bottom, while the upper endof each lever 12 is hingedly connected to the seat bottom 8 by a bracket21 and nut and bolt 22. The upper ends of levers 11 are joined by theangle section 23.

The lower ends of thc levers 12 are hingedly mounted by brackets 24 andnut and bolts 25 to opposite end of slide 26, which engages with theU-Section frame 15, and which is slidable towards and away from the rearof the chair. When the slide member is moved to the rear position, theseat is lowered into the normal position as shown by the chain dottedlines. When the slide is moved into the forward position, it is liftedand tilted from the normal position of FIGURE 5, and adopts the attitudeshown by the full lines in FIGURE 1, and the occupant is raised into aconvenient position for taking the weight on the feet, as shown inFIGURE 6.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES l land 2, thereV is provided a screwthreaded nut 27 on a screw threaded shaft 28 supported for rotation inbearing blocks 29 and 30, and rotated by an electric motor 31. The motoris reversible and can either be of the low speed type, and be directlyconnected to the shaft 28, or there can be provided a gear boxtherebetween at position 32 on the shaft 28. When the shaft rotates, thenut is moved along the shaft and the seat is moved from one position tothe other.

The slide 26 carries a plate 33 which contacts microswitches 34 and 35to stop the motor at the extreme positions of the seat. The operation oflifting and lowering is controlled by a switch 36 on the arm of theseat, and comprises as shown in FIGURE 3, a three position arrangementof four sets of contacts S1, S2, S3, and S4, ganged together. ContactsS1 and S2 operate to reverse the motor 31, while contacts S3 and S4 actto short circuit respectively the micro-switches 34 and 35. The centralposition allows the electrical circuit to be disconnected from mains 36Aby way of the contacts S4.

The action of the switching means of FIGURE 3 is Ias follows: at oneextreme position of the seat, microswitch 34 or 35 will have been openedby the plate 33. By moving these switches to the appropriate position,the motor is reversed and the opened micro-switch is short circuitedwith the result that the motor starts in the appropriate direction, andcontinues rotating until the other micro-switch is opened by the plate33, at which instant, the motor stops. On moving the switch 36 again,the motor is again reversed and the cycle is repeated in the otherdirection. The blank contact on each set of contacts acts to isolate thecircuits during the reversal process.

Connection with the main supply can be made by a Yexible cable 37connected to the back of the chair by a plug and socket 38.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 4, the seat is connected to and guidedin its movement by a pair of cross-over levers as for the previousembodiment, but instead of the bottom ends of the levers 12 being movedbackwards and forwards by a screw and nut arrangement, they ,are free toslide, and a bellows 39 is provided below the seat which is inflatedfrom a source of gas under pressure which is controlled by a valve 40Operated by a lever 41.

The source of gas under pressure is not shown in FIG- URE 4, but the gasenters the pipe 42, and when it is required to lift the seat, the valveis operated to direct the gas by way of pipe 43 to the bellows. When theseat has reached its limit of movement, which is governed by a cord 44,the lever is moved to a central position and the supply of gas isarrested. When the lever is moved to the third position, the gas in thebellows is released by way of a pipe 45. As the cord 44 is released, itis wound on a spool 46 by a helical spring. There may also be provided apressure operated valve which closes the supply when a predeterminedpressure has been built up in the bellows, when the elevated positionhas been reached.

The source of gas under pressure may be a compressor powered by anelectric motor, both of which are built into the chair. Alternatively,the gas under pressure may be provided by a replaceable gas bottle,while in a still further arrangement the chair may be provided with acompressor which is operated manually by a lever, by the occupant of thechair, there being provided a valve which can be opened to release thepressure in the bellows when the seat has to be lowered, and which isclosed when the compressor is operated by hand. The chair may beprovided with such upholstery as necessary to make it as comfortable asa normal chair, and to be indistinguishable from such a chair, while itcan have a variety of designs to suit the user.

The chair has the particular advantage that, beside lifting the occupantto a standing height, the seat is also tilted and moved forward to bringlthe weightiof the body over the feet, and consequently little effort isrequired by persons weak in the legs or who must not exert themselves.

I claim:

1. An armchair having means by which a seat may be lifted and tiltedforwardly while occupied by a person in which the improvement comprisesa frame below the seat and an arrangement of levers for each side of thechair, said arrangement of levers including a pair of levers pivoted oneupon the other intermediate their ends, one end of each lever in eachpair being hinge'dly connected to the frame towards the front of thechair and the front of the seat respectively, the other end of eachlever in each pair being slidable upon the frame and seat respectivelytowards and away from the rear of the latter, a screw threaded rod, anelectric motor for driving the screw threaded rod, a nut on said Screwthreaded rod, and said nut being connected to the ends of the leversslidable upon the frame to slide the latter towards the front of thechair to lift and tilt the seat vand provide forward motion of the seatupon rotation of the screw threaded rod by the motor.

2. The armchair as claimed in claim 1 in which the point at which thelevers are pivoted one upon the other at each side of the chair isnearer the hinged end of each lever than the slidable end of each lever.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,053,852 9/1936` Tracy.

2,442,303 5/ 1948 Mayeld 297-332 X 2,641,305 6/1953 Oishel 207-330 X3,138,402 6/1964 Heyl et al 297-330` X 3,218,102 1v1/1965 Specketer297-330 3,250,569 5/1966 Gaffney 297-330 3,343,871 9/1967 Yates et al.297-323 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner G. O. FINCH, Assistant Examiner

